Day 11: declutter mode

Today was all about de-cluttering! I took everything out of my closet (not clothes, I don't have a lot and got rid of stuff I don't wear awhile ago) and threw away a ton of papers. I had sooooo much stuff from high school and college and just weird things I've hung onto. I am not afraid to throw things away. I used to be, but realize they are just things and toss them. I was holding onto approximately 12 binders of work from college and realized: Okay, I haven't even LOOKED at this stuff in a year, so I don't think I ever will again.
I went through and saved papers that I had written (the ones worth keeping) and everything else went into the garbage. I kept a few blank binders (the good/clean ones), but the rest are going to Goodwill or Salvation Army tomorrow.
I also had a ton of papers from high school and the Poynter Institute (I was in the high school journalism program).
I ended up with about 5 categories of STUFF:
-Photos that don't belong in an album (ie-loose)
-Writings (papers, newspaper articles I had written, anything)
-Journals (I've been journaling non-stop my whole life)
-Love (Letters and notes from Mirza!! I have A LOT!! They are so wonderful).
-Junk drawer kind of stuff (ie--things I need or want that don't have a place)

I decided I wanted square boxes with lids and a place to write what's in the box, you know, a simple organizational system. Kind of like those photo boxes, but bigger...
You'd think this would be easy to find, no?
Well, I went to: Target, Michael's, Marshall's, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Jo-Ann fabrics, Home-goods, Walmart, and finally Ross.

AARGHHH!!! Nothing! I finally had luck with Ross, but had to settle for boxes that had designs on them. I only wanted something plain. Geez!

I wish I had a before and after picture to post, but Mirza borrowed the camera last night and I forgot to get it back!!
I feel clean and fuzzy inside now.


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I did all of this organizing after my 11:30 Yoga class! It was intense. We had a sub who usually teaches kickboxing and martial arts. It was actually a great work out!!

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When I was at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, I found two pieces of art that I could not resist...
The weird thing is that I saw these photos just yesterday on a necklace from an Etsy.com page. You can see a small version of one of the pictures through the link. The other one is a woman sitting cross legged with hands in prayer position.

I'll post pictures tomorrow! They go perfect for the theme of the month.


In honor of declutter day, I leave you with George Carlin's take on STUFF: